Business on upswing for Erie Canal Cruises

Despite the daily parade of chilly temperatures and rain, it’s the time of year when local tourism and recreation begins to pick up.

That includes Herkimer-based Erie Canal Cruises, a company owned by Florida transplant Jerry Gertz that offers historic cruise boat tours of the Erie Canal.

By DAN MINER

Uticaod

By DAN MINER

Posted Apr. 22, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 22, 2011 at 10:20 PM

By DAN MINER

Posted Apr 22, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 22, 2011 at 10:20 PM

HERKIMER

Despite the daily parade of chilly temperatures and rain, it’s the time of year when local tourism and recreation begins to pick up.

That includes Herkimer-based Erie Canal Cruises, a company owned by Florida transplant Jerry Gertz that offers historic cruise boat tours of the Erie Canal.

With an increased focus on marketing, along with healthy repeat and referral business, Gertz said the 2010 season was his best to date.

And there is more to come, he said.

For information, visit www.eriecanalcruises.com.

Question: What kind of business do you expect this season?

Answer: I expect to be up, and let me tell you why. Here we go with gas again. We’ll see a lot more New Yorkers because they won’t be traveling too far from home. The other thing I think it is, we’re still just being discovered. We still find people in Utica and the surrounding areas that didn’t know we existed.

Q: What are the factors that affect your business?

A: Weather is a big factor. Any year that it’s warm is usually one of the better years. 2006 sucked because of (widespread flooding in the region). That really killed it. The economy of course is a factor to some degree, but if it doesn’t get any worse than it is, I don’t think we’re going to suffer very much.

Q: What is the future of the business?

A: I see maybe three boats at this location, and I see us tripling what we’re doing now, easily, in the next five to 10 years.